


Homefront

by anamatics



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, F/F, Family, Gen, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-08
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-15 22:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anamatics/pseuds/anamatics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>season two spoilers - lots of We Are Both Spoilers</p><p>Living with Prince Charming is, well, really cool.  Henry likes being able to stay up late and get told stories of the Ogre Wars and what it was like to kill dragons.  He likes being able to sit next to him and know that he has a grandparent.  He’s never had one before, his mom never, ever talked about her parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Living with Prince Charming is, well, really cool.  Henry likes being able to stay up late and get told stories of the Ogre Wars and what it was like to kill dragons.  He likes being able to sit next to him and know that he has a grandparent.  He's never had one before, his mom never, ever talked about her parents.  

He sits next to James on Snow's couch one day, staring around at Snow's things and asks, "Did you ever meet my grandparents?"

James contemplates this for a moment before he inclines his head sideways.  "You mean... me and Snow?"

Henry shakes his head, because James really is a bit thick and the stories haven't led him too far astray on that conclusion.  "You're some of them, but doesn't my mom have parents?"

The look that James gets in his eyes tells Henry everything he needs to know, but he's willing to listen as James stumbles through the story.  "Snow told me about Regina's mother once.  After our wedding and the promise of the curse, she sat me down and said that Regina's anger was really all her fault."

"Did you believe her," Henry demands, his fingers grabbing the soft flannel of David's shirt.  It twists under his grip, wrinkling and creasing in a way that he knows would drive his mother mad.  

James runs a hand over his face, fingers scratching on the beard that's just barely showing there.  "Yes, Henry, I did."  He leans back on the couch before continuing, throwing an arm over Henry's shoulder.  Henry starts at the contact, but leans into it.  His mother had been right that she's never loved very well.  He hasn't really had a lot of human contact like this.  It's nice.  He thinks he likes it.  "Snow wasn't much older than you were when she first met Regina.  And Regina wasn't that much older than Snow."

Henry's eyes grow wide and he nods.  "Regina told Snow a secret about the person she loved most," James says, "And Snow didn't keep that secret.  She was ... I wouldn't say made, because that's not really their style..."

"Manipulated?" Henry supplies helpfully, because his mother is very good at that.

"Yes," James says, patting him on the head. "Snow was manipulated into telling Regina's secret to Regina's mother.  Regina's mother then acted on that knowledge and took something very precious from Regina."

Henry supposes that this is why he's never actually met his grandmother.  "Was she a bad person?"

James' expression is grim, "From what Snow says, she was the absolute worst."

-

Henry isn't really sure what he's looking for when he digs his key out of his pocket the next day after school.  School had been really, well, weird.  No one in his class is who they used to be and he realizes just how little time he spent actually figuring out who his classmates are.  The Blue Fairy is covering Snow's class until she gets back, and she's a lot stricter than Snow.  Henry finds himself learning a little bit about the Revolutionary War and the battles that were fought in Maine and the journey towards Canada to attack Montreal.  It had actually been interesting, the sort of thing he'd ask his mom about when she got home from work.

He stands there for a long time, staring at the key in his hand and the door before him.  He takes a deep breath and reminds himself that his mother would never, ever hurt him, and unlocks the door.  

The house is silent; all he can hear is the ticking of the clock on the wall in the kitchen and the sound of the dryer going in the laundry room.  He grins, Prince Charming isn't really big on the whole domestic thing and he needs clean underwear.

The dining room table is covered in papers all written in his mother's neat and precise hand.  Only this is a langue that he doesn't speak, one he never has.  He leans forward, pulling a page towards himself and finds himself contemplating a diagram that looks similar to the pictures he remembers from science class when they talked about wormholes.

"That's how jumping between worlds works," Comes his mother's voice from behind him and despite his best efforts not to, Henry jumps.  

He takes a second to calm himself, before he turns and tries to smile up at his mother.  She's wearing a shirt that Henry's pretty sure is Emma's - which is weird in and of itself - and is holding a cup of tea.  "Hi mom," he says quietly.  He turns his attention back to the paper in his hand. "Why does it look like math?"

"Because magic is a lot like math," this mom explains, setting her tea down on a coaster and pulling out a chair.  She gives him an encouraging look and Henry decides that he might actually learn something that isn't about Benedict Arnold and how much of a traitor he was today.  "When you do it right and don't take shortcuts, that is."

He turns to her then, because his mother is _all_ about doing things the hard way.  "What do you mean, shortcuts?"

She cuts across the room and produces a keep from her pocket. Henry watches as she uses it to unlock the curio that he's never been allowed to go into because there's breakable china in there.  There's a book inside, and his mother doesn't even touch it, though Henry can see that she wants to.  "This is a spell book," she explains, pointing at it, her face turning downwards into a scowl, "It was written by Rumplestilskin - they're pure spells, written down so any fool with a spark of a gift can use them."  She closes the cabinet and locks it resolutely before pointing at the mess of numbers and runes on the paper before Henry.  "That is how magic should be done, through careful balance of risk and reward."

"Have you used that book?"  Henry asks, curious but also wary.  "Here?  In Storybrooke?"

She looks away, and Henry knows that she has.  He can't believe that he trusted her and he's already trying to figure out how to get out of the house because this was a Very Bad Idea.  "I did," she confesses. "I did because my magic isn't working right and I needed help."

"So you cheated," He accuses.

She shakes her head and sits down opposite him, picking up her pen and drawing a circle on a new piece of paper.  "I..."  she looks down at the paper and then up to Henry.  "Emma made it work before, and without her here, I needed _something_."

He's not sure that he heard her right, as she's busy sketching glowing lines on the page that rise up as she writes, casting a script around them and hovering in midair around the table.  "Emma made your magic work?"  he knows he sounds disbelieving because he is, Emma is supposed to _beat_  his mom, not save her too.  "Why?"

The spell circle around them flickers bright blue before dissolving into nothing as his mother sets down her pen.  "I imagine because she's a being made out of the most powerful magic of all."

"True love?"  Henry breathes.

His mother nods, before standing.  "You should go Henry.  I'm sure James is waiting for you."

He follows her to the door and lets her squeeze his shoulder gently before she pushes him on his way.  "I miss you," he says quietly, because he honestly does.  He can't bring himself to look at his mother as he runs down the front walk and away from his house.  Red is probably waiting for him by now, and he's got a spelling test tomorrow to study for.

He doesn't see his mother wrap her arms around herself and sob, leaning against the doorway of their home, wrapped in Emma's t-shirt and a cloud of sadness that Henry doesn't know how to fix.

-

Henry misses Emma with all his heart.

He goes to school and learns sword play from James.  He does his homework and visits his mom.  She sometimes makes cookies, which Henry leaves at the hospital on his way back to Granny's or Snow's apartment.  She tells him about how to write magic, how it's an art.  She tells him how she came to learn how to use magic and how dangerous it is.

"You remember D.A.R.E., Henry?" she asks as they're sitting across from each other at the dining room table.  Henry is looking through his book (he has a theory that it might update itself when Snow and Emma do something cool in the other world that's worthy of a story) and pretending to do homework.  It's a pleasant sort of silence, interrupted by that really weird question.

He nods.  "No drugs, they're bad and addictive."

"Magic is much the same," His mother says quietly.  "Power is... seductive.  It draws you in and makes you depend on it above all other things.  And it is very hard to stop using it."

He wants to ask if that's why she's not used it yet.  He's not stupid and he knows that his mom won't do anything until she's thought he whole thing through.  Emma breaking the curse too her by surprise, and she's sure not to make the same mistake again.

He drinks his tea and nods, turning a page in his book.

The picture that he's greeted with takes him totally by surprise.  "Mom!" he says without thinking picking up the book and shooting out of his chair and around the table so quickly that she gives him a reproachful look for running in the house before he plops the book down in front of her and points at the picture.  "That's _Emma_."

His mother's face draws back in alarm, fingers spreading out over the picture.  She's not looking at Emma; Henry can see that, but rather at the woman hidden half in shadow as Snow White lays prone at the savior's feet.  Henry's never seen her look this way before, and it frightens him to watch her as she trails her finger down the page, all color draining from her face.

She mutters something in the old language that the spells are written in and a rune floats above the book, red hot and angry.

"Henry," she says quietly, her voice the scary sort of calm that it usually is before she yells at him for leaving his socks and shoes and underwear lying around.  "Does ... Emma" and she seems to wince at the name, "carry a mirror with her?  For that matter, does Snow?"

He thinks hard because his mother sounds deathly serious.  Emma doesn't really wear makeup, that he's seen.  He doesn't really get that stuff anyway, it's girly and gross.  

"She might have her phone," he says at length. Snow would too, but Snow's phone is a dinosaur with a tiny screen and no games on it.  He's never really been interested in it. "And Emma has her necklace - that's a ring but it's silver so it's reflective."

His mother turns the page in his book, her expression grim.  "This book adding new stories is troublesome," she says at length, closing it and handing it back to him.  "But it may prove useful for when we get them back."

He nods because it does sort of make sense.  "Will we?"  he asks, not really daring to hope.

"I made you a promise, didn't I?"

-

James catches him trying to write out the alphabet his mother taught him - the one from the old world, and asks what it's about.  "I was raised around sheep and farms, Henry," He explains.  "I never really knew of magic until it came along and messed up my life."

Henry tells him everything that his mom has said.  How magic is addictive and dangerous, no matter who's using it.  He tells him how his mother is trying to write out a spell to get Snow and Emma back, but that it is really hard to write such a thing without being in the same world.  The new story in his book is helping, he explains, but it's not exactly good because there's someone in the story that genuinely frightens his mom.

"Something that frightens Regina?" James asks as Henry passes him the book and shows him the picture of Emma and Snow and the woman in shadow.  He watches as James stares at the picture for along moment before closing the book with a snap.  "I... I need to go," James says suddenly, and Henry finds himself a lot more worried than before.

"What is it?"  Henry asks as James grabs his coat and buckles his sword around his belt with the practiced ease of someone who has done it his entire life.  "Who is that lady?  Who is my mom afraid of?"

Henry's already got one shoe on and his jacket and scarf wrapped around his neck.  He's going with James, especially if they're going to see his mom.  

"That's your grandmother, Henry."

Oh.

-

They send him to his room, his old room, as soon as they get to his house.  Henry pauses in the kitchen just long enough to set up his baby monitor surveillance system and slide it under the couch as he pretends to pick up his jacket to take it with him.  He runs up the stairs two at a time and practically slams his bedroom door shut as he dives for the other end of the monitor that he's long since hidden under his bed.  

It crackles to life and all he hears is silence for the longest time.  Footsteps and silence.  James must be pacing.  He does that a lot and tells Henry that it helps him think.

"Snow told me your mother was dead," James says at last.  "Disappeared, didn't even go to your wedding."

His mother's voice comes a second later, short and to the point.  "When I told Snow that, it was what I thought was true."

"Was it really?"  James asks.

There's a pause and Henry wishes that they'd let him hear this conversation.  Stupid adults, the curse broke because of him, he's not going to ruin it by knowing what's going on.

"I pushed her through a looking glass - the first time I ever did magic - and then the looking glass broke," His mom sounds tired, more tired that she's ever sounded during an election year.  Henry wants to go to her and tell her that it'll be okay.  He wants to tell her to sleep because he knows she's not.  "I never wanted to hurt her."

"Not like she did you?" James' tone is quiet and Henry gasps.  He'd never known that, but it makes so much sense.  That was why his mother had let him go and live with James, because she must have realized that she was acting like _her_  mom and realized that she didn't want to.  

"Not that that is any of your business, Charming, but yes," his mother scoffs.  "It turns out that in our land, she is very much alive."

"Yes, and with my wife and daughter," James retorts and Henry sits up.  He's got an idea about something and he wants to check before he does anything else.  Having proof means that they can't say you're crazy, after all.  

He turns the volume down on his baby monitory and creeps down the hall to the open door of his mother's bedroom.  The bed is made, as it is every morning, and there are a stack of books on the bedside table that partially obscure a picture frame that Henry's never seen before there.  

A long gold chain rests on the table and Henry picks up the frame as his mother replies to James, "This does not bode well for them."

"No, it doesn't."  James replies as Henry stares at the picture in his hands.  It's one of himself and Emma, at his castle before it was destroyed.  They're leaning against each other, staring out at the sea.  Emma's arm is wrapped around his shoulder.  He remembers that day, it had been a good one.  

Why his mother this picture on her bedside table and what it might mean scares him.  He does like it though, because it makes a lot of sense and Henry's always liked order.  

James' voice crackles to life on the baby monitor, "How do we fix this, Regina?"

His mother's comes a second later, "I don't know."

Henry thinks he might.

-

He tells Red because he doesn't think James will react well, sitting at a booth at Granny's and doing his homework.  "I think my mom is in love with my other mom," he announces and Red drops the mug she was clearing away from the table next to him.

She gives him a strange look, her eyes almost glowing like a dog's as she leans forward.  "I know," she says.  "I saw how your mom looked after they fell though that portal."

Henry helps Red clean up the broken pieces of mug and wipe down the table.  "How do I make this right?" he asks.

Red shakes her head, "That's something that your mom and Emma need to fix."

He nods, because he can't tell her that he's worried that his crazy grandmother is going to get his mom and other grandmother killed before his other mom can save them.  His family is really messed up, he realizes, and he doesn't really care.

"I gotta go," He says as he gathers his things.  He needs to talk to his mom.

-

They've never been a hugging family.  His mom had been right when she'd told him that she's never really loved well, but it's a hug that Henry wants right now.  He doesn't wait for her to greet him, but flies right into her, arms wrapping around her and his face buried in her chest. 

She smells like tea and pie and _mom_ , and when she runs her fingers though his hair, he lets her.  

"You have to save them," he says into her stomach.  "Because you love them."

"Henry..." his mother begins, her hand stilling on top of his head.  Henry listens to her heart then, and hears it beating strongly.  That's good, safe.  She still has one.

"Promise," he begs.

She pulls away from him and kneels so that they're on eye level with each other.  He can see that she hasn't been sleeping at all, and he wants to hug her again. 

Her fingers touch his face and he lets her smooth his collar. "I already did," she says.  "But I will save them."

He smiles at her then, and leans forward.  It's daring, maybe even foolish, but Prince Charming is his grandpa and he's a little bit of a fool.  He kisses her cheek and hugs her again.  "I know you love them both," he says, and lets his mother hug him back.

Maybe all that she needs to get them back is someone on her side, helping her along.  Jimminy had suggested that he try, and James and Red aren't discouraging it.  This is the best thing, for the time being.  

"Yes," she says quietly.  "I do."


	2. Chapter 2

He regrets it as soon as he does it. He hangs up the phone and stands there for a long moment, wondering if it's the right thing to do. He knows that his mother has not been entirely honest with any them, and that Jefferson has been hurt more than most by the Evil Queen. He wants to prove that he can beat the queen at her own game.

Still, it doesn't really feel right, playing with his mom's emotions like this. Henry doesn't like how unclean he feels as he pushes open the door to his mother's office. She's gone and will be gone for a while, waiting for him at Granny's for a lunch that will never happen.

He stands there in the middle of her office, staring and the black and white wallpaper and feeling dirty. She swore to him that she did not want to be like her mother, and here he is, behaving like her. 

Maybe he isn't the good person here.

He takes his mother's keys and finds that he fancies himself a prince of old. Maybe he's just a detective, but everyone in his family is good at finding things. He's got to find an answer and Jefferson had hinted that she still had one hidden away.

He hates that his mother always lies to him. She showed him the spell book and had said she had no other magic. Jefferson had said otherwise and everyone knows the Evil Queen lies.

-

Henry supposes that he should have thought this through as he ends up face to face with the absolute last thing he wants to be finding in the depths of his grandfather's tomb. He can barely contain his fear, his cheeks coloring and his eyes wide in terror. He's scrambling backwards before he even knows what to do. There's a scream on his lips, one that he knows no one will hear as the vipers rise up and make to do to him like they did to Snow White's father.

He closes his eyes, and waits for the end.

When James saves him, Henry knows that he's in big trouble. When James says that his mom had figured out what had happened, Henry knows he's dead meat. His mother has never been one to stand for such childish defiance, and what he to her was unfair and unwarranted. 

Tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he stands before James and pretends like he doesn't care. He can't care - she's an evil queen, and James is a prince. It doesn't seem fair.

He just wants to save Emma and Snow so badly; he doesn't think that that should make him the wrong doer in this. He hates that he's face to face with James and he cannot honestly blame anyone else for this. The hurt on James' face is Henry's fault and Henry's fault alone.

He tells James that he doesn't think he belongs in Storybrooke, and he can see James' face fall. This isn't what he wanted, none of this is. 

Henry bites his lip and lets James lead him out of his mother's evil lair. His hand feels sweaty against James', and he feels small for the first time in his life. He hates it, his mother always makes him feel big, even if she made him feel crazy, and Emma always respected him. She might not have believed in the curse, but she did let him tell her all about it despite that.

"You can't do that," James says again as he leads Henry, sullen faced and annoyed, out of the cemetery. "I don't know what the hell Regina keeps down there, but you don’t want to mess with it."

Henry folds his arms across his chest and scowls. "She keeps stuff down there that could help us." His eyes narrowed, "Jefferson told me so."

It is only in that moment that it occurs to Henry than maybe Jefferson hadn't wanted him to come out of that vault beneath his grandfather's grave alive. He inhaled sharply, his hand sweaty in James' hand as he suddenly realizes that he wants his mom more than ever. He wants to squirm away and run to her, to tell her that he is sorry and that he never meant to get into a situation where an Agrahban viper could very easily have ended his life. James holds him fast and still, tightly as he tries to act like he doesn't care.

James shakes his head. "The only things down there are bad memories, Henry. Your mom is actually trying to help, and what you did to her wasn't very nice."

He knows it wasn't, but he can't admit it. To admit it means to know that he was wrong and Henry isn't sure that he was. She had hurt Jefferson; she'd taken his daughter away from him when the curse was cast. Maybe Henry deserved to be at risk as Jefferson's daughter had been at risk without her father. Maybe this was his way of getting revenge. "I did what I had to do," he says, jutting out his chin stubbornly and ignoring the pained look on James' face.

-

He's been sleeping in Emma's room, curled up with her pillow and her red jacket over him. It smells like leather and like coffee - stale and acidic. He finds some comfort in it, and pulls the jacket around himself and over his shoulders as he sits in the dark. 

James sent him to bed straight after dinner, telling him that he was not allowed a story tonight because of his actions. Henry had protested, but James had been firm with him.

"You put your mother in a very bad position," James had explained, down on one knee with Henry's arms held firmly in place by James' grip on his shoulders. Henry had not expected to see hurt in James' eyes as James explained further, "Your mother isn't exactly well loved in this town and you put her in a position where she could have been hurt."

He hadn't thought of that, either.

His cheeks had burned with shame. They still burned in shame as he thought about what he had done. The disappointment that he'd seen on James' face was enough to make him want to make it right - only he did not know how to do that.

James had told him that they were getting up early and he was going to apologize to the Blue Fairy for skipping school and return his mother's keys. 

He pulls Emma's jacket more firmly around himself and sighs, trying to find sleep when he knows it will not come. His misses his bed and his things. 

(He misses his mom.)

Henry's eye-lids feel heavy and he knows that he is starting to doze off when the shrill ring of the telephone jerks him back into wakefulness. He hears the scrape of a chair, and the heavy sound of James' boots as he walks to pick up the phone.

Moving as quietly as he can, Henry reaches down under the bed and pulls out the baby monitor he has set up for this express purpose. He's got baby monitors everywhere, because he likes to be informed and no one tells him _anything_ any more. Henry lunges for the one that's connected to an 'empty' box of cereal on top of the fridge and flips it on eagerly.

"Hey," James says quietly, and Henry turns the volume up because he can barely hear him. He doesn't think that the echo should be evident behind a set of stairs and a closed door. "I'm sorry about earlier."

There's a pause and then James adds, "But really, you kept those vipers?"

Henry scowls and wishes that he had his book so that he could double check the story because honestly that one was boring because it was _obvious_ that Mr. Glass was the Genie that his mother had trapped in a mirror. 

"I don't care that you kept them, Regina. I just worry about what you do have kept hidden away. It's not safe for Henry - you know how he is..." James trails off and then adds in a stronger tone, "No, I am not insulting your son, Regina."

Henry feels himself smiling because his mother will always be there for him, defending him even when he was very clearly in the wrong. 

"Who else knows of that place?" James asks after a moment of silence that seems to stretch on towards infinity. Henry yawns broadly and snuggles under Emma's jacket, wishing that he could hear the other end of this conversation. "Henry told me that he heard about it from a man named Jefferson - the one who owned that hat." James makes a strangled sound and adds, "Cut the crap, Regina. We both know that you know who he is. And I-" He falls silent and then adds, "I understand. I had no idea, but I'll keep that in mind."

The conversation goes silent after that, and Henry drifts off into an uneasy sleep.

-

After breakfast James drives Henry over to his mother's house and hands him the keys he'd taken. He does not offer to go inside with Henry, nor does he offer any encouragement. Henry knows that he's being punished. He leaves his backpack and tugs at the neck of his sweater before clambering out of James' truck and picking his way slowly up the walk.

He gulps, raising his hand to knock on the door. He knows that he should be allowed to just walk in and leave the keys on the dining room table. His mother would understand, because he can't quite bring himself to apologize to her. 

His mother answers the door with a cup of coffee in her hands, her hair still damp and not yet styled for the day. She looks so different then, so completely and utterly human as she steps away from the door wordlessly and allows him to enter.

He stands in the foyer of his house, keys dangling loosely from one hand. He wants to run, because he cannot be here, cannot face up to what he did. 

"There is no known antidote to that snake's poison," His mother comments, sipping her coffee and watching him. "Not in this world or on my world. Even wishing upon a genie will not save your life."

"I know," Henry mutters, his fist clenching tightly around the ring of keys. "It was stupid and I didn't think it through."

"Clearly," Her tone is not harsh or mocking, but rather full of the regret that Henry feels as well. 

She gives him an expectant look and Henry bites back the urge that wells up deep within him to pull whatever progress that they've made back even further. She's the evil queen; she's nothing more than an evil being (even if he knows it isn't true). 

"I-" Henry begins. "I brought your keys back." He holds them out and she takes them and sets them on the table by the door. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

She gives him that same hurt smile she's been giving him since this whole mess started and shakes her head. "I know why you did it," she says. "I have done it before too, you know."

He tries to speak, but no words come to him. He nods slowly and steps forward, his fingers brushing against his mother's forearm. "I just wanted to be a hero."

His mother's smile is genuine then, and she tussles his hair affectionately and pulls him forward into her. It's not exactly a hug and she's never really been good at them. Still, it's something. "Let your grandfather teach you how to be one, Henry."

"What about Emma?" Henry asks, because he's honestly curious if his mother thinks that Emma's a hero.

She pushes him away and towards the door. "That's for me to know, Henry."

He goes without pressing the matter, because he's got a lot to think about.

Later he sits in Emma's bug, thinking. He's surrounded by her mix tapes and her disturbingly large collection of Heart cassettes. He misses her so much that he doesn't really know how to cope with it.

He watches as Grace - whose name used to be something else - reunites with her father. He wants to cry, seeing how happy he is. Henry knows that until things get better, he can never have that happiness.

He wants his mom - he wants Emma. He wants things to be _normal_. But more than anything, he wants to be a hero.

-

The book changes later that night and Henry reads in horror as the man who married his grandmother and grandfather's murder is revealed. Emma and Snow aren't having that great a time and it doesn’t look like his grandmother is making it easy for them to travel across the land. They’ve acquired friends, Mulan and Aurora – sleeping beauty. It’s so cool that he has to tell James.

"The book changed again," He says to James as James sets out the ingredients for lasagna. 

James blinks, but leans forward as Henry turns the book towards him to show the new picture. Emma and Snow are standing before a figure cloaked in shadow in a ruined nursery, flames rising in a corner. Henry watches James' face carefully as it contorts into something that he cannot put into words. It looks like he's been stabbed, a painful grimace as he pushes the book away and slumps down into a stool across from Henry.

What Henry isn't expecting is for James' shoulders to begin to shake and a choked sob echoes from his chest. 

He doesn't know how to react because he doesn't think he's ever seen a grown man cry before - especially not a man who is supposed to be a hero. Henry closes the book and pulls it in towards himself, wanting his mom, wanting Emma. He doesn't understand and he wants to. He desperately wants to know why he feels like this and why James is crying.

He cannot ask, he refuses to be that person. To ask is to make it real for James, and Henry cannot do that.

"They'll be okay," he says at length, thinking it's the best thing to say. 

He hopes he's right.


	3. Chapter 3

Henry's blood runs cold when he sees James with Mr. Gold.  He's still not entirely sure what Rumpelstiltskin's motives are, because he's read his book from cover to cover and the stories of the Dark One are few and far between.  He's a character in the shadows and he's looking especially troubled today.  Henry doesn’t like it when grown-ups look that way, and he doesn’t like it even more when they then proceed to shut him down and refuse to answer his questions.

And he hates it when he doesn’t know things.

He climbs off the bus and pushes past Grace and a few of her friends, glaring at her as he does so.  He's still mad that Grace's father attempted to get him killed in his mother's vault under his grandfather’s grave.  He's still mad at himself for going down there.  He turns over his shoulder to see Grace's face pull downwards into an unhappy frown as she watches him walk away. 

He wishes that he could tell her why he's mad at his father and by extension her.  He's so angry all the time now, and he hates it.  He just wants Emma and Snow back; he wants his life to go back to normal.

He wants his mom.

It’s getting harder and harder for him to pretend that he doesn’t miss her.  At first, it was really cool, spending the nights at Snow White’s place, sleeping with Emma’s things all around him.  James tells the best bedtime stories, but lately he’s been so preoccupied that it almost seems like an afterthought.  Henry’s been spending more and more time at the diner with Ruby and his visits with his mom are growing more frequent.

Because there’s something about being in his mother’s presence that soothes the fear deep within him every time he sees Mr. Spencer (who Henry _thinks_ is King George) or Mr. Gold.  He thinks that they might actually be really evil, the not just the kind that his mom is.  Not everyone in his book is good, not everyone is evil.  He feels like he’s finally starting to get it.

When Henry arrives at the diner, Red's sitting at the counter talking to a girl that Henry's never seen before.  She’s leaning in, her expression friendly.  It’s the way that she used to look at Emma when Emma wasn’t really paying attention.  His mother had called Ruby a flirt, he supposes that Red is the same.  He really needs to remember that she’s said that she’d rather be Ruby than Red. 

 While he knows that it's not the best idea, he walks on. He doesn’t feel like being the fifth wheel today, not when everyone seems to be busy looking for other stuff to do that isn’t taking care of him.  It's stupid and he knows it, because no one ever tells him _anything_ and if he wants answers he's going to have to insert himself into situations.

(Or buy more batteries and baby monitors, because his spy network is not nearly complete.)

James hadn't been too happy with him as he'd sent Henry off to school that morning.  Henry had woken up alone in Snow's apartment.  There was a note on the refrigerator saying that he was helping Grumpy and the others down in the mines because they were down from their usual seven with Sneezy forgetting who he was.  Henry had stood there in the kitchen for a long moment before he made his lunch and brushed his teeth.  He made a second peanut butter and jelly for the walk, and headed towards the mines, arriving just as Red did.

She had rolled her eyes at him but had taken him down to see his grandfather without question. 

In the moment of James' anger, Henry had wished that James knew that it was nice to eat breakfast with someone in the morning.  He had wished that James knew that he should stay all night in case Henry had a nightmare. He’s been having them a lot lately, dreaming about how the book’s changed and how James had _cried_ when Henry had shown him what Emma and Snow where up to. He doesn't know how to find the words to tell James that he needs to be around more.  That he has a responsibility to Henry before whatever it is that he owes the town.

Henry just wants to feel safe, and when he sees James walking down the street with Mr. Gold, he feels anything but safe.  The fear that he’s been so good at surprising roars to life like a dragon in his book, and he finds himself wanting to be anywhere but where he is.

So he goes to his mother's house - even though she's mad at him for skipping school and nearly getting himself killed.  He needs someone who actually cares for him and understands him. 

He wishes he could go to Emma.

"Henry," she says when he knocks on the door. She looks exhausted; there are dark circles under her eyes.  Her hands are gentle as she pulls him into the house before casting a suspicious look around outside.  "Where's James?"

"He's busy," Henry says, looking down and away, spinning the fabric of a lie so convincingly that his mother folds her arms across her chest and lets her fingers drum on her forearm as she eyes him expectantly.  Henry's been on the receiving end of that look enough to know that he better 'fess up before she goes off.  He shifts from foot to foot before adding, "He's working with Mr. Gold on something."

"Rumpel?"  His mother scoffs.  Henry wonders why she’s being so dismissive, but he doesn’t question it.  His mother has her ways of doing things, and they’ve always been that way.  He supposes that now that she doesn’t have to pretend any more, the little things have become big things.  He’s never seen his mother look quite so regal before, it’s kind of cool.  She gives Henry as long and searching look, her mouth open as though she wanted to continue. 

Suddenly her expression softens and she turns and heads towards the kitchen.  "I take it he left you to make your own lunch today?"

Henry doesn't want to say yes, because his mother cooks poison and eternal sleep into delicious treats.  Ever the traitor, his stomach growls and he raises his hand to touch it sheepishly. He is hungry, but he's afraid to eat whatever it is that his mother offers him. 

She chuckles and Henry can see a twinkle in her eyes that he hasn't seen in months or maybe even years. What she doesn't say is, 'I'll let you watch me cook it,' but she lingers just long enough for Henry to shrug off his backpack and shoes and trot after her into the kitchen.  There’s an unspoken agreement there, and Henry’s grateful she’s not going to make him as.

For the first time in what feels like weeks, his mother makes him eggs.  Cracks them right in front of him and sprinkles saffron and pepper on them and adds cheese just like he likes them.  She offers him ketchup, but they discover that somehow the bottle has expired and his mother doesn't want him eating that even though the date was only a few days ago.  "I'll get more," his mother promises him and Henry smiles at her and eats gratefully.  He hadn't realized how hungry he was. 

-

James calls at seven and asks if Henry's with his mother.  Henry's half-way though his homework (the Blue Fairy is probably eviler than his mom and assigns a lot of homework that involves thinking and science that has to be at least a grade or two ahead of his class) and is sitting at the dining room table across from his mother and her charts and graphs.

She’s told him that the inherent problem with magic in this world is that it does not behave like it should.  There’s a difference between here and there that she has to correct for – which means that she needs to experiment.  Before Henry had started his homework, she had sat him down across from her and set a candle between them.  “This is basic,” she had explained, “But a good way to judge.”

His mother had closed her eyes and the candle had flickered to life, warm and friendly.  Henry had leaned forward to look at the flame, watching as it danced on the wick.  “You did it!” he had said happily, because it meant that they were one step closer to getting Emma and Snow back.

“Yes,” she had agreed, her expression closed-off and distance.  “I suppose that I did.”

Henry hadn’t known what to make of that comment.  He’s still contemplating it when the phone rings and his mother makes an overdramatic gesture with her hand before picking up the cordless.

"He's here, Charming," his mother says into the phone.  Henry can hear the annoyance in her voice as she speaks to his grandfather and honestly, Henry cannot blame her.  He's been fed twice and has had far more help with his homework than James has ever offered him.  It's nice, even though he knows it cannot last.  "I have half a mind to keep him here, you need to stop playing hero long enough to remember that you have a _child_ to care for – _my child_."

When his mother steps out of the room and earshot, Henry knows that she's using grown-up words to yell at James.  For once he doesn't want to listen in.  He knows exactly what she's going to say; even if he doesn’t quite know the words she's going to say it with.

He hopes that she tells him he’s got to make lunches, because Henry can only make ramen noodles and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  He’s not exactly cut out for fending for himself before school.  He’s only ten (nearly eleven), he needs someone to take care of him.

Ten minutes and two stupidly hard math problems later Henry hears a knock on the door.  When his mother's voice does not quiet, he gets up and goes to answer it tentatively.  He peeks out the window and sees Red standing there, looking really uncomfortable, tapping her foot and twitching.  He exhales and opens the door, smiling up at her as she looks down at him, a startled look on her face.  "Hi Ruby," he says, sticking to the Storybrooke name because she’s asked him to and he’s got to get better about trying. (And remembering that sometimes people don’t want to be who they now remember that they are. ) "My mom is on the phone with my grandpa."  He peers past her to make sure no one was lurking in the shadows and adds, "Did you want to see me?"

Red shakes her head, hair flying every which way, "I didn't know you'd be here, kiddo.  I needed to see Regina, if that's okay."

Henry shrugs, because he's not his mother's keeper.  "You can come in if you want."

"Who can come in, Henry?"  His mother's voice calls from her study.  He has no idea how she does it, but she's got an absolutely X-Man worthy sense of hearing and she uses it to always mess up surprises and the like.  It’s sort of super awesome, if she didn’t use it for the powers of evil and being nosy all the time.

"Ruby's here," Henry replies, and soon he hears the sound of his mother hanging up with James.  He (very secretly) hopes she yelled at him, because he's sick of being alone. 

His mother stands in the doorway of her study and looks appraisingly at Red.  "Ms. Lucas, what can I do for you?"  Her tone is conversational, but Henry knows her well enough to know that she's nervous, maybe even acting with wariness that he's never seen in her before.  It almost makes him uneasy, knowing that his mother does feel threatened by someone as nice as Red.

Red looks as uncertain as his mother does, which is like, double weird.  Aside from Emma and Snow, these are the two strongest people in his life.  James is quickly falling down his list and Henry knows that there probably will not be another person he would be able to depend on.  He hates it, hates that James is failing and that he's too afraid to tell him.

"I need some advice," Red says, her voice even.  "I met a girl today, someone I don't remember from our land.  She was ... with Rumpelstiltskin."

His mother snaps to attention and steps forward almost instinctively.  "I see he found her," she says, and Henry knows that another of his mother's lies is going to come out sooner rather than later.  "Her name is Belle, she-"

It's strange for Henry to see Red interrupt his mother, mostly because Red's always been pretty quiet.  He thinks she's a lot like Batman, strong and silent. She says little but what she does say is extremely powerful.  "Mada-Your Ma- _Regina_ ," she finally settles on, "Is he going to hurt her?"

"No," His mother's voice sounds far-off.  She's looking at Red as though she's not really seeing her.  "I do not believe he will."

Henry watches, because it's what he's best at, and when his mother seems to relax, Henry feels himself exhale.  He doesn't like it when his mother is all tense like that; it makes him think that she's going to break her promise to him and use magic like she did before. 

"I will speak to him."

Henry spins to stare at his mother, wide-eyed. "Mom, you can't!" He protests, because he cannot stomach the idea of his mother anywhere near Mr. Go- _Rumpelstiltskin_.  "He's ..."

"I am no better, Henry," His mother confesses quietly, and Henry lets his mouth slam shut.  Because he cannot argue with that.  Because he knows it's true and hates that it is.

-

Henry meets Belle at Granny's a few days later.  Red- _Ruby-_ sits him down next to her at the counter as he starts in on his homework.  James is trying to be better, but he's made a rotating schedule of Henry going to his mom's house or Granny's after school because he really does have to keep some order in the town.  Henry's willing to forgive that; really he is, because it means that James is trying.

He likes living with Prince Charming a lot, he's decided. He stays up late and reads stories out of the book and gets James' perspective and opinion on them.  He tries to learn more about his mother's mother - Cora, the book's named her - but James doesn't really know much.  Henry's too afraid to ask his mother, but he's getting there.

Maybe she'll tell him on her own.

"I'm Henry," he says brightly to the woman with the pretty hair and charming smile.  She's got a copy of _Sense and Sensibility_ tucked into her lap and ink on her fingers. His mother had told him that she'd convinced Mr. Gold to give Belle the keys to the library.  Ruby had mentioned that Belle was looking for work to his mom, and how Ruby had suggested the library.  The one that Mr. Gold technically owned. 

"A gift," she'd explained as Henry had wanted to know why anyone would be so happy to receive such a boring gift, "that speaks far more to her than it does to him.  It also keeps someone in the library in case Ms. Swan's dragon slaying skills are as shoddy as her paperwork skills." 

Henry had then demanded to know how she'd managed to get a _dragon_ under the library.  His mother had shut him down with a stern look and Henry resolved to ask James, because at least James tried to tell good stories.  He had, however, tried to pout at her to get her to spill, but it hadn’t worked.

"Belle... French, I guess, though I’d rather not be," she says, taking his hand.  She smells like books and old people and Henry tries really hard not to wrinkle his nose.  Books smell funny and his mom thinks he might have a tiny mold allergy, because he’s always sneezing in the basement.  "You're the Qu- _mayor's_ son, aren’t you?"

For once, Henry does not protest.  It doesn’t feel right and he feels as though he does owe it to at least try like his mom is trying.  He knows that they're both bull-headed, as she likes to say, and that neither likes to back down from an argument or a conflict.  Especially not one that's been going on for as long as this one has.  "She's my mom," he explains.  "I'm adopted though," he adds because he can't help himself.

Belle sips her tea and nods.  "You seem like a very smart boy," she says.  "Can you tell your friends at school that the library is going to be open starting Wednesday?"

Henry nods his head, because he can do that.  The kids at school at least are still pretty much the same.  Grace is even nice to him.  He’s been trying really hard to be nice to her.  She’s not her dad; she didn’t try to kill him.

He eats his fries and watches as Ruby leans over the counter to ask Belle about her novel.  It’s strange to see Ruby being so friendly to anyone, but there’s a spark in her eyes that he’s happy to see there.  She’s like his big sister and his most amazing babysitter all rolled into one, and the way that she’s smiling at Belle makes Henry smile too.

His mom’s magic is working – sort of - maybe they can get Snow and Emma back soon.  Maybe it will all get better.


	4. Chapter 4

Henry runs because that is what he is told to do. He's seen James' face when there's important stuff going on; he knows that this is not the place for him. Still, he circles around the outer limits of the stables and watches, head peering down the long line of stalls. He's worried about his mom, she hadn't even moved to him when the man had attacked.

He's decided that he doesn't like horses very much either. They're too easily spooked and are freaking out something fierce right now. Henry tries to glare them into silence like he's seen his mother do so often, but they do not listen. He has to hear what's going on now, has to understand.

James is shouting, his mother is sobbing, Henry can't hear anything.

Henry sinks to his knees, his pant legs cooling and then growing rapidly damp as the mud of the stable floor seeps upwards and into them. He can see the fear in his mother's eyes, he knows the pain there. He's seen it so much as of late.

Still, though, this pain is different. Henry has never seen his mother look like this, and he never wants to again. He wants to run to her, to wrap his arms around her and to protect her like the brave knight that James is training him to be. 

He has absolutely no doubt in his mind that he will be his mother's knight in time. He knows that it is his duty to protect her when Emma is not there and where Emma fails. 

His mother leans against the door to Henry's horse's stall and Henry watches as James leans in close as well. They're talking, obviously. He scrambles to his feet and pushes himself forward as far as he dares his ears straining to hear what's being said. James pushes his mother away from the door and she lunges forward once again, her face a twisted mask of pain and emotion that Henry has never seen before.

A gentle nuzzle at his shoulder makes him freeze, but the quiet breathing of his horse in his ear makes Henry relax. He reaches up a hand, palm held flat, and lets the horse sniff it before he lays it flat across the horse's nose.

"My mom isn't having a very good day," Henry comments to the horse as James stumbles away from Regina and towards Henry. 

He's out of breath, his face red and dirty. There're streaks of sweat crossing across his face and Henry thinks he looks dirty and gross and not at all like Prince Charming. James bends down and gabs the horse's lead. "We gotta get out of here, Henry," he says, glancing back over his shoulder as he pulls both Henry and the horse away from the line of stalls. 

Henry doesn't move. Because his mom is in there and that's not okay. Because James wants to leave her there, which is also not okay. "But you left her!" he says and James scoops him up and tosses him onto the back of the horse. "No!" Henry shouts as he scrambles to right himself and to find a sense of balance. "No, you can't just leave her to die."

James climbs up behind him almost effortlessly and reaches around Henry to grab a handful of the horse's mane. "She's a witch, Henry," he says quietly, his eyes downcast. "She can protect herself."

He fights, kicking and shouting at James as his grandfather nudges the horse into motion. They walk, then begin to trot and finally gallop as James uses his legs and simple pressure on the horse's mane to steer them out and away from the stables. 

He doesn't want James to be his grandfather any more.

-

Henry doesn't go see his mother right away, even though he's called to make sure that yes, she is alive. She sounds like she's been crying and Henry doesn't understand it, she is one of the strongest people he knows. He sits with the phone cradled to his ear and sings the song that she used to sing to him when it stormed and he couldn't sleep. 

"Little child," he begins, "Be not afraid." It's the sort of song that he's always known his mother did not write, but he loves it from her lips above all others. She isn't the best singer, and he's heard the original once or twice on the radio. But still, he likes it best when she sings it, and he's always felt comforted when she sings it. 

Maybe she will feel the same way.

"Though rain pounds harshly against the glass," Henry's voice rises across the apartment like a single ray of light. It fills the room with the feelings that he doesn't like to admit rule his heart. This is his mother; he has to protect her because right now she cannot protect herself. "Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight..."

"I'm hardly a child," she comments when he trails off, the phone pressing painfully into his cheek. Henry sighs and wishes that he could go to her. "But thank you, Henry."

"I'm gonna be your knight," Henry promises, his voice as sincere as he can make it. He knows that things haven't been great between them recently. He knows that he's behaved badly, and that she's really trying. He doesn't want to make it easy for her, but she's truly trying. "I have to protect you from guys like that."

What he hears next is now what he expects. His mother lets out a choked sob, her breath coming in short pants as she gives out a sort of whine that makes the hair at the back of Henry's neck stand up on end. "Oh Henry," she whispers, her voice trembling. "He - I - you don't need to protect me from him, I promise."

He's afraid to ask but he has to know. She's crying and he doesn't know how to handle that. He's a lot like most guys, he's noticed. There's been a lot of crying around him recently and he doesn't really know how to deal with it. He wants to do things, to fix things. To make his mother feel better is a steep task, but he hates it when she cries.

"But he wanted to hurt you," Henry protests, "He wanted to hurt me!"

What he isn't expecting is what she says. "That was the one person in my life that could never hurt me," his mother is sobbing, and Henry's already headed for the door. He doesn’t know where James is, and frankly he doesn't care. He has to go to her; he has to protect her because no one else will. "That was Daniel..."

He's off running, it's half a mile to his house and he runs the whole way. He sees people watching him run, phone pressed against his hot and sweaty cheek as he digs his does into impervious pavement and spirits himself away towards his mother. He pushes the door open and locks it behind him, he saw Dr. Whale on his run over, his face a grimace of pain. He hopes that no one will bother them.

"I'm here mom," he whispers into the phone, kicking off his shoes and climbing up the stairs.

Her bedroom door is ajar and she's sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, her muddy boots kicked off at its foot. He edges into the room and he can see her phone on the bed, the call just ending as he closes his phone. She's holding a photograph in her lap, staring down at it. 

"Hi mom," he says quietly, glancing down at his socks and feeling the heat rise to his cheeks.

They're not much of a hugging family, but it feels good to have her scoop him up into his arms - the picture of Emma and himself at his castle long forgotten. She's crying into his shoulder, holding him as close as she can. 

"I broke my promise," she mumbles into his sweater, her hands fisted in the fabric there. "I'm so sorry Henry."

He doesn't say anything, but throws his arms around her shoulders and lets her cry. Maybe it's what he has to do; maybe it's what being a knight is really all about. It's about being there when people need you, and helping them in any way you know.

Later, his mother takes him home and tells him that she's going to talk to Doctor Hopper. Henry smiles at her and tells her that he's a really good listener. "He's a friend," he says, as she bends and kisses his cheek. It feels good, to smell her perfume. 

She turns to leave, and Henry asks, "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Will you tell me about him, some day?"

She nods, "I will, Henry. You and Emma both. It's a story that needs to be told."

-

The book has changed again. Emma and Snow White have met someone new, Cora is still very evil and Henry doesn't trust the book very much anymore. There’s a lot that seems to be left out and he’s not entirely sure what the purpose of the added stories is. It cannot be to keep them informed as to what’s going on. No, that would be too clever. 

It has to serve a higher purpose. Henry’s just not sure what it is yet. As he closes the book, he sees a picture of Emma holding a knife to a man’s throat and sighs. He doesn’t know how that land is going to change Emma, and he hopes that she’s still the same when she comes out of it.

James is sitting at the kitchen table finishing his breakfast. "Are you ready to go to the stables?" he asks, and Henry wants to shake his head so badly. He hates horses and he hates what happened there. James doesn't know, James can't know. 

Henry isn't going to be the one to tell him. 

"Yup," he says, with his best smile. It feels like he's frowning, and Henry doesn’t care. He's still mad at James.

The stables are quiet in the morning. James still goes by David half the time, and he checks in on a few of the horses, a hoof pick and curry comb in hand. He's talking to some of the stable hands, who have gathered by the door to the large open space they use for the lessons Henry still cannot have. He lets his fingers twine through his horse's mane, and she leans against him. 

"Henry!" James calls, and Henry slips out of the stall. His horse sticks her head out over the door of her stall and watches him head towards his grandfather with solemn eyes that make Henry want to go back and burry his face in her neck and never move again.

At least she will never judge him or force him to make terrible choices.

Horses, Henry decides in that moment, maybe aren't all that bad.

(But they're still pretty evil and annoying and he wants to ride one not clean up their poo.)

"They always said that King Leopold's wife loved horses more than she loved him," one of the stable hands comments as James takes Henry's hand and lifts him up over the half-door that encloses the ring.

There is a single rider in the ring, horse at full gallop. 

Henry has never seen anything like it. Not in movies, not in books. This is - this is a rider who is truly one with their horse, one that is unafraid of that bond that James had spoken so fondly of when he'd introduced Henry to his horse. 

"She rides like a man," Another one adds and James is smiling as he lowers Henry back down to the ground. "I never knew she was that good."

His mouth drops open as the rider makes a final pass, hands stretched out on either side of her. Her eyes are closed and she's just... breathing. His mother is truly stunning like this. This is where she is most happy, yet Henry cannot remember at time in his childhood when she actually rode. Not even at the fair during the summer.

It is amazing to watch. His mom is like a superhero, her body floating as one with the horse. 

"Is she gonna do it?" The first man asks, and James nods. 

"I think so," James agrees. "Henry," he instructs and Henry rises on his tip toes to get the best view he can. "Watch how she jumps - Regina ... really should be the one to teach you to ride." He rubs his hand across the back of his head. "It was not my place to offer such a thing."

His mother's hands snap forward and her seat changes, her body sliding forward slightly as she gathers in her reins. There's a jump at the center of the ring and she takes it perfectly, sits back and urges the horse forward.

In the moment when she's in the air, Henry thinks that he has finally come to understand his mother. 

"I..." Henry says, "I'm not okay with you leaving her like that."

James looks uncomfortable, "She asked me to, Henry."

"I don't care," he says stubbornly, because if there's one thing that's true about both of his moms it is that they're both very stubborn and do not suffer fools like James. "You pushed her; you wanted her to let you hurt that man." His voice lowers and he hisses, "Do you know who that was?"

James hangs his head, bending to kneel before Henry. "I do," He says. "And it wasn't fair." 

"Did you say you're sorry?" Henry asks, because he definitely didn't and he knows that sometimes that can be the most important thing. Archie - Well, Jiminy - told him that.

"No Henry," James says. "I didn't."

"You should," Henry retorts.

"I know."

-

"So this is your horse?" His mother asks as Henry goes back to his horse. Her mane is somehow tangled again, and he's been working out the snarl as she flicks her ears at him. She's sassy like that, he likes it.

He nods. "She's pretty cool."

His mother touches his shoulder and pulls him into a hug that quickly grows awkward as his horse gets it into her head that this is a group hug and adds her contribution by attempting to eat Henry's hair. "I'll teach you," she says after a moment. "When you've formed your bond."

"Oh come on," he protests, drawing out the word as long as possible as he scowls at his mother.

"Charming might not be right about much, Henry, but he does know animals pretty well," she gives a little shrug and Henry feels himself trying desperately not to smile. "You have to bond with them."

"Okay, okay," Henry says, picking up his comb once more. "Bonding now."

"Thattaboy," his mother whispers, slipping from the stall and into the bright light of the growing day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Teng, if anyone was curious.


	5. Chapter 5

After his nightmare, James lights a candle and Henry still can't sleep. He lies there in almost complete darkness, staring up at the ceiling, afraid to move. The candle's light flickers across the ceiling, casting long shadows and angry little men that plot his doom with every passing moment.

They’re coming for him, he knows it.

"Why do I have these nightmares?" Henry asks his grandfather, who has picked up the book from where he's left it at the foot of his bed. James' fingers close around the worn leather of the spine and he shakes head tiredly.

He sits on the edge of the bed and runs a sleepy hand over Henry's arm. "I think it's because you ate that turnover," he runs his hand over stubble that Henry can't wait to have (because shaving sounds very cool and grown up) and scratches at the back of his neck as he speaks. "When Snow..." he trails off, his face drawn and pensive. Henry knows that he is thinking about the time when Snow was like him, trapped in nightmares that never seemed to end. "When Snow ate that apple, she had the same dreams."

Henry turns onto his side and stares into the candle flame, thinking about why he had that dream in the first place. It makes him uncomfortable to think of and to know that his mother did this to him. That his mother wanted Emma gone so badly that she wanted her to sleep forever in a world with no magic.

"I thought my mom loved..." He trails off, his face twisted into a grimace as he wraps himself up in Emma's jacket. It smells of cigarette smoke and cocoa. Like Emma but the more grown up kind of Emma that Henry knows be barely recognizes. This is the Emma who is dangerous, the one that went to jail.

James' face softens and he leans down, hand smoothing over Henry's sweaty forehead and ruffling his hair. "Don't you worry," James promises, pressing a kiss to Henry's forehead. "Your mom loves you."

James doesn’t specify which mom and Henry doesn’t ask. Henry rubs at the wet mark from the kiss and makes a face. He watches as James opens up the book on his lap and pulls the candle closer.

His fingers fall on the page Henry's marked, where the new stories keep appearing. They're spread wide over a picture of a woman with straw-colored hair standing before a giant, her expression sad. "There's a new story in here," he says. His voice is hushed, almost reverent like his mom made him be when they went to church on Christmas.

Henry wonders if they have Christmas in the other realm.

He shifts so that he's in the pool of warm yellow light that the candle casts and peers to get a better look at the picture. "Can you read it to me?"

James nods, and even though it's two in the morning and Henry has school the next day, he lets his grandfather read him the story of the White Knight and the Pirate and their adventures up a beanstalk.

"...And Snow White sat with the Princess Aurora, watching over what precious little sleep she was able to get during their long wait. She thought of the nightmares of her own time under a sleeping curse, and how horrible those times had been..."

-

James takes him to see his mother the next day, and Henry tries not to see the pain in his mother's eyes when he tells her about the nightmares he's been having. She sinks down to her knees before him and rests her palm open against his forehead. "I am going to do something, if that's okay." She's using her mom-voice, the one that makes Henry nervous because it usually leads to her offering him magical cupcakes of doom or making him feel like he's crazy. He knows she means well, and that she desperately wants to be better, but the mom-voice still makes him nervous.

Henry narrows his eyes, "Is it magic?" He asks.

She nods, and James rests a comforting hand on Henry's shoulder. Henry glances up to see that his expression looks surprisingly open to the idea, which sets Henry on edge, because he can't figure out why James would be okay with it. His mother reaches up and cups his cheeks, pulling his gaze back to face her and smiling as gently as Henry knows her to be capable of. "I want to see what you saw, this is the best way."

"Like in Harry Potter," Henry questions. Behind him, he can hear James' jacket shifting as he shrugs. Because apparently his grandfather isn't cool enough to have read Harry Potter.

His mother nods, and then flashes a smile, "Only without a pensieve. I can use a mirror." She fixes Henry with a very serious expression and rests both hands on his shoulders. "I made a promise to you that I would not do magic, this is magic."

"It will help me," Henry says, sticking his bottom lip out. "I know what you promised and it's okay." Because he breaks the rules sometimes too and she never faults him for it if he has a good reason.

She closes her eyes and Henry feels something totally alien push against his mind. It feels warm though, comforting. The magic is cool and green and smells of summer now, pushing through his mind to find the tiny knot of nightmares that his waking mind really should not remember. They've been keeping him up for a while now, and she's found them and has drawn then with gentle hands from his mind.

Henry opens his eyes to see his mother holding a glowing red ball in her hands. She stands on shaky legs and gestures with her wrist as the ball grows larger. It flies towards the mirror that she's always had hung up in the hallway and Henry reaches out to grasp his mother's hand as she stares at the glowing mirror.

The room from his nightmares swims into view. The entire room is red, and there are two dark corners cast in equal shadow by flames interspersed between long red curtains nailed to the windows that are not truly there. Henry's breath catches as he finds himself looking into his dream, his mother's brow furrowed in concentration as her hand grasps his sweaty palm.

There's a creature in the shadows, across from where Henry's perspective places them. James steps forward and peers at the mirror, recognition dawning on his face. "Henry," he asks quietly. "Do you have the book with you?"

Henry nods, honestly not really knowing why they even bother to ask. He always has his book, because he needs it on more days than he doesn't. He nods. "It's in my backpack; I left it in the car."

"What do you see, Charming?" His mother asks. Her tone is sharp and to the point. It's the sort of tone that she uses when he runs too close to the road or throws a ball too close to a window. It's a motherly sort of a tone that makes Henry nervous.

James steps forward, fingers hesitantly reaching out towards the specter in the far corner of the room. "That's another person," He says quietly, waving his fingers in front of the mirror.

Henry shakes his head, "No!" Because it can't be another person. It has to be a demon or a creature from beyond. Maybe an alien, he couldn’t be sure.

What's more important is that he doesn't want it to be another person, because that would mean another person has been under the same sort of spell that he'd been under.

__

Waitaminute.

"Mom," he says, tugging on her hand and pointing at the figure in the shadows.

Her eyes narrow and she too leans forward, her free hand clenching into a fist when the light from the flames flickers unsteadily to cast the woman's face into light. "Aurora..." she breathes and looks to James, who nods his agreement.

"Who?" Henry asks, because while he's pretty sure he knows the story and knows who Princess Aurora is, it doesn't explain why she's in his dream.

His mother kneels down next to him and waves her hand in the direction of the mirror. The girl's face fades away into nothing and Henry's left staring at a reflection of the hallway. "You, little prince," she whispers, brushing her lips against his forehead, "Have solved the problem of how to contact Emma."

His eyes widen and James ruffles his hair, a fond smile on his face. "What do you mean?" Henry asks as his mother stands and heads into the dining room. Her books and papers are still spread out across the the table in a haphazard mess of math and calculations. She's usually so tidy, that to see this much mess is unnerving for Henry, and he shifts uncomfortably before stepping into the room.

"You know the story of the Sleeping Beauty," his mother says, and it isn't a question. They've had that movie for years; it was one of Henry's favorites when he was a child. (He'd liked the dragon, not the love story, thank you very much.) At Henry's nod, his mother continues, "Maleficent’s quarrel was with Aurora's mother, not Aurora, but she fell victim to the curse all the same. It's the same one that was on that apple..."

"You helped Maleficent curse Stefan's daughter?" James asks, his eyebrows raised incredulously.

His mother folds her arms across her chest and shakes her head. "Do you really think that I had the time to get involved with Maleficent's petty schemes? No, the charm came from the blind witch - same as the apple. I don't know how Maleficent got the charm out of her, come to think of it."

"Is she here?" James asks, shuddering a little bit. Henry knows that he had encountered Maleficent at least once in the other realm, and he had barely survived the encounter.

Henry looks to his mother, who shakes her head slowly. James didn't know that Emma had killed a dragon while he'd been asleep, and Henry hadn't ever gotten around to telling him. To be honest, he'd been a little afraid of what James might to do to his mother, knowing how Emma had barely survived the incident. "She is no longer a problem for us," she replies evenly. "Your daughter saw to that."

"Emma?" James breathes, and Henry sees his mother nod. She picks up a piece of paper from the table and hands it to James. It is full of complicated-looking letters and glyphs, with more math than Henry's brain can handle on so little sleep. James stares at the paper for a long time and then shakes his head. "There's a new story in the book," He comments quietly. "The White Knight and the Pirate Captain climbed a beanstalk to steal-"

"The compass..." His mother breathes.

Henry sees the look his grandfather and mother exchange then, and wonders what's so important about this compass.

-

He spends his afternoons at the library before James picks him up and takes him to the stables. Belle French is a pretty cool lady, very quiet and soft-spoken. She knows a lot about books and tells great stories to the kids who come in to hear her story hour. Henry is too old for the story hour, but he likes to sit close enough that he can hear, while he's working on his homework. He's not too old to listen in, after all.

Henry is working through a particularly hard math problem that the Blue Fairy set them when Ruby comes in. A quick glance at the clock on the wall says that it's a good hour before he's due at the stables for his lessons (even though he really, really doesn’t like horses, still), so Ruby's not here to get him. He sets down his pencil. "Hi Ruby," he says.

She waves distractedly at him and makes her way straight towards Belle. The story hour is drawing to a close, and the kids are getting up and moving to find books in the stacks to take home for the week. Henry's got a small stack of his own at the corner of his desk. _Robinson Crusoe_ and _The Swiss Family Robinson_ , both of which Belle says are perfect for little boys who love adventure.

Henry watches as Ruby leans in close to whisper something in Belle's ear and watches as Belle smiles slow and easy up at her. He's glad that they've become friends. Ruby's been so lonely since Emma and Snow left, and now she has a new friend. It seems like that is working out, which is good. Henry just wants everyone to be happy.

He's been trying not to think of his mother, and how she's become so withdrawn and sad since Whale did whatever it was that he did to Daniel's body. He doesn’t know how to help her other than to be there for her and to encourage her to talk to people about her problems. Henry doesn't really understand true love, but he knows that it hurts more than anything else in the world.

He wishes Emma were here, and that Emma could tell his mom that it'd be okay. His mom needs Emma to make it okay, because Daniel is gone and only Emma's left.

Ruby and Belle are giggling now, getting as close as they can get, all smiles and happy endings.

Henry just wants Emma and Snow back. He wants to start again, to be a prince in this world or go to that one. He wants to go with Emma to Boston and see the science museum that she keeps telling him about. He wants to have his mom really teach him to ride and not use the lessons as an excuse to work though her own demons.

He wants a lot of things.

He's just not sure he's ready to have them yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Henry is trying to stay awake.

He doesn't fear sleeping, or at least that's what he's trying to stress that to James. James has so much on his mind; he sits Henry down and tells him that its wolfstime - the full moon hangs low in the sky as he speaks. He points to it, and Henry follows his gaze. He's read the stories enough to know what they mean, and to have a pretty good idea as to what might happen tonight. 

(He really, really hopes that Ruby doesn’t eat anyone.)

"Are you gonna be okay tonight, kiddo?" He asks, and Henry wrinkles his nose because 'kiddos' are usually five and utterly useless as heroes. He wants to be a hero so badly. Heroes can stand down these nightmares and not be afraid. His mother has seen his nightmare now, and he knows that she's been faced with the direct consequences for a spell that she cast for the first time. He hopes that this is a turning point for her, but he's not sure that it will be.

His mother has promised him many things, and Henry cannot see a solution to this that does not involve magic. There's no way to bend the rules here, and that book his mom has put away in the cupboard probably has an answer.

Henry pulls the covers up to his chin and nods as best as he can. He knows he looks stupid like this, eyes wide and frightened as candlelight fills the room. "I'll be okay," He tells his grandfather in his bravest-sounding voice.

James bends down and kisses his forehead. Henry raises a hand instantly to wipe away the kiss because he's not a _baby_. James chuckles at his action and shifts the candle far away from anything else on the bedside table. "Be careful with this if you have to move it, Henry," James says, and Henry nods. "I'll see you in the morning."

As Henry falls asleep, he thinks about how his mother using that book would mean. The book is a symbol of everything that she's promised him she'd give up. It's really unfair that he's stuck with these nightmares that really do need a magical solution. 

That night Henry dreams of the room full of fire again. It's so hot, his body feels like it's about to burst into flames at any passing moment and he feels himself screaming. 

The cloaked figure in the corner scuttles towards him; it's movements like the crabs he likes to catch in tide pools along the harbor with his mother. Humans should not move like that. Henry's stumbled upon enough creepy horror movies on late night television while trying to stay awake to know that anything that moves like that probably isn't friendly and that he should stay far out of its path. 

At the back of his mind, he recalls the conversation that James and his mother had – that that cloaked figure that is moving so much like a demon might actually be a person who can help them. A person who is with _Emma_. He has to go closer, he's curious, he wants to be the hero who figures this out. Maybe if he kills the creature he'll be able to stop having these nightmares. 

Henry takes a step towards the flames that flare up as he dares cross the floor, and his hand catches on something. Fire spills forth and covers his palm, and the pain is incredibly real. 

He wakes up screaming.

Henry's hand is throbbing; the pain is radiating down his arm and up across the side of his face. He can feel it in his eye, at the back of his head, around his neck. It’s the most surreal feeling ever. He's burned himself before, but it's never felt like this. The pain has never been this absolute. 

There are arms on him, pulling him into a hug, holding him tight. James is a terrible hugger, and he certainly doesn’t smell like-

"Mom!" he says as he realizes who it is that is holding him.

She rests her chin on his head, and Henry relaxes enough to pull away from her and stare out across the apartment. "Where's-"

"He had a call," His mother explains, smoothing the sweaty hair on his forehead. She fusses over him and he almost lets her, but there's something inherently wrong with this whole situation and he can't quite shake the feeling. 

He's been living with James to prove a point to his mother, she told him that she wanted to redeem herself and she's honestly been trying. She doesn't get to take a shortcut, though. And this feels like one. 

He looks down at his open hands, and he can see that they’re shaking. He's never been so afraid, and he hates that he's powerless to stop the fear. In the bright morning light that streamed through the curtains he can actually see the injury and it's gristly. As the light catches it, he feels his mother’s hands hesitate and then reach forward. They pull his fingers away and tilt his hand into the light. It hurts, but Henry bites his tongue because he doesn't think its fair that he complains about the pain when all she's trying to do is get a good look at him.

"Is... is this a burn?" She asks, and Henry nods. He's completely solemn faced now, still sleepy and still shaking from the dream. 

She raises her eyebrows at him, like she used to when she caught him in a lie, and he adds. "I was trying to get across the room. There was fire. Fire everywhere."

His mother pulls him into a hug and Henry lets her hold him. Her fingers trace along his burn thoughtfully, and she tuts as one of the blisters there threatens to pop. 

She leans back, reaching across to the armchair where she must have been sitting, watching him. Her jacket is there, tossed to one side. She pulls her phone out of it and gives Henry a contemplative look. "I can't heal you," she says quietly. "I'm no good at healing magic."

Henry doesn't think it's particularly strange because honestly, what's the point of knowing how to heal people when you're a queen? You can have other people do it for you. "Is it because it's hard?" He asks, as his mother stares hard at her phone for another long and drawn out moment. 

She flips it over with a sigh and sets it down. "No, Henry," she explains. "It... magic like that, _good_ magic, comes from a place I don't have any more."

"Because of Daniel?" Henry asks, because maybe losing true love breaks your magic. It makes sense, because no one seems to have magic any more. There's crystals that they've found in the mines, that might lead to fairy dust, but Henry's not getting his hopes up. The way that the book is changing seems to indicate that the story there isn't done. He doesn't think that Emma and Snow White will be back until it is done. 

Until Emma comes back, there can be no happy endings.

His mother brushes at the sticky hair at his forehead, trying to get it to lay flat and sighs. "Because of a lot of things," she explains. She picks up her phone. "I'm going to call someone who can help."

"Who?" Henry asks, because he's curious and there's a very short list of people who he can think of who might be able to help. He's not sure he wants any of them near him or his dreams, however.

His mother has dialed the phone already, and she's stepped away from him, speaking in low, tense tones that set Henry on edge. He doesn’t like how nervous she looks, and how out of places she seems in this apartment. It's all very _Snow_ and he's sure that it's probably making her twitchy, deep down.

Henry wishes that he understood what it was that was happening to him.

When his mother hangs up the phone, she presses it to her shoulder thoughtfully, her other arm wrapped around herself. "No matter what he says, remember that I know exactly why this is happening and I am so, so sorry that it happened this way."

She'd called Mr. Gold.

Henry's heart starts to race.

-

Mr. Gold gives him some sort of concoction that's supposed to allow him to not be afraid any more. Henry's pretty sure that it's one of those things that's going to be all in his head, but that's really the least of his worries. He wears the pendant under his shirt and watches as his mother putters around the kitchen to make them both breakfast. 

"This is weird," he says eventually, because it really is. 

His mother shakes her head, "Yes. Whatever possessed Ms. Blanchard to keep her pots and pans in her _broiler_ is completely beyond me."

She makes eggs again, and there's ketchup this time. Henry eats and watches as she nibbles on some toast and reads the _Globe_. He has a million and one questions that he wants to ask, and he's still trying to figure out where to start. Maybe it's easier to start at a place that isn't the beginning. "Why did he say that to you?"

"Rumpel said a lot of things, Henry, you're going to have to be more specific," His mother turns the page in the paper. She grins, folding out the comics and passing them across Mary Margaret's kitchen island. Henry pulls them towards himself, but doesn't look at them. 

"When he said that when you control something, you don't need to fear it," He took a deep breath and continued what he hoped would be a thought that wouldn't set her off. "He wasn't talking to me, was he?"

She folds the paper down and Henry reads an upside-down headline about the Patriots losing to the Ravens in truly epic fashion and wonders, not for the first time, why his mother reads the sports pages. She takes a sip of coffee and shifts in her chair, nudging her plate of toast and eggs over and out of the way. "He was but he wasn't," she explains. 

"How do you mean?"

She gives a little laugh at that, the sort that makes her sound younger, less like an evil queen and more like his mom. She had laughed like this for Emma, before she got stuck in Jefferson's stupid hat. "His advice was good, for you," she explains, picking up a napkin and slowly beginning to rip it into tiny pieces. Henry's never seen her this nervous. It's strange. "To control something is to not fear it any more, he's right. I think what he was saying is that I have absolutely nothing left that I can give him."

"So if you need his help he controls you?" Henry poses it as a question, his brow furrowed and the comics almost distracting him on the table. "But you're still able to do magic!"

She leans forward, a sly grin growing across her face. "And that," she explains, "is out little secret. Mark me, Rumpel is planning _something_ and I'd like to know _what_ before I let on anything." Her expression softens and she sighs. "I promised you I wouldn't, though. I intend to keep that promise as best I can."

Henry wonders if this is one of those adult things that he's not quite old enough to understand. His mother is right though, because even James has pointed out that Rumpel is planning something. Ruby's noticed it too, watching over Belle a little more closely than their new friendship should allow. 

"Okay," he says evenly, and picks up the comics. Maybe when he's had a decent night's sleep he'll be able to take a look at the book and figure out exactly what's going on with Emma and the rest of them. For now, food and the comics are enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> realized I'd written myself into quite a corner, lol. I think I got it fixed.


	7. Chapter 7

Henry has made many discoveries today. The most important of which is that sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

The stories say that his mother stole the cursed apple from the blind witch, but the magical chemistry that she’s doing now points to something completely different. It is here, watching her, that Henry really starts to wonder if he knows his mother at all. The science involved in creating this curse is such that he can barely comprehend it. 

“I thought you stole the sleeping curse - you had Ava - _Gretel_ get it for you,” He knows that his tone sounds accusing, but he doesn’t care. Why would his mother go to all the trouble of stealing it if she could have just made it herself.

His mother sets down the eyedropper that she’s holding and places her hands on her knees and stares up at him. “You know how I told you that magic is a lot like chemistry and math, Henry?” Henry knows that he doesn’t deserve the gentle tone in her voice or the smile that clearly tells him that she’s humoring him. 

He has seen the papers that have littered the dining room table in her - their - house. He’s spent hours looking at them and trying to understand how exactly it is that magic works. Magic is different from anything that he’s ever encountered, and to see a spell created using something like the chemistry set he got for Christmas two years ago seems very out of place.

Maybe his book was wrong and made everything out to be far different than it actually is - and this is just how things are. 

He bites his lip and lets her lean in and cup his cheek. He doesn’t even flinch as she smiles sweetly at him and kisses him on the nose. “I had to get the spell in order to learn it. I’m sure that Mr. Gold will tell you that I am terrible at spell creation.”

“Because he wrote the curse?” Henry asks, thinking it over.

His mother shrugs and Henry tries to think of a reason why someone who is obviously so good at something would be so bad at creating it. She turns and crosses around behind the table, back to where she’s left her eyedropper and whatever it is that are the components to this sleeping spell.

He’s not used to thinking of his mom as being bad at stuff. He’s so angry, knowing that she won’t let him go back to sleep and into that nightmare of a world where he has a chance to fix things. He could be a hero and rescue Snow and Emma - he could get them back and then finally be able to try and make sense of his life. He could do all of it and win, he knows it.

He sticks his lip out stubbornly and moves his hand to scratch at the bandage that Mr. Gold wrapped around his arm after waving his fingers over it and making the worst of the pain go away. His magic feels different from Henry’s mom’s. It feels like oil running down his skin and Henry’s really not sure that he likes it. 

“Don’t scratch,” his mother says, eyes back on her work. 

“But it itches!” Henry protests, hands jammed into his pockets to keep himself from doing it. 

She sighs and runs a hand through her hair before gingerly pushing herself away from the table and coming around to pull his hands from his pockets and clasp them in her own. “Henry,” she says seriously, her eyes meeting his. He can see the fear there, and the fierce determination that Henry knows she’s passed down to him. He’s just like her, really. He knows it and hates that he’s ever hated it. 

“I didn’t have the best mother,” she explains, her eyes shining with something that Henry cannot place. It’s strange, because he’s known that his mother is scared of his grandmother. James has made that clear in the stories that he’s heard from Snow - and the book isn’t really helping him feel at all good about what might happen should she ever find her way to this world - which is what Aurora’s sure is going to happen. “And I haven’t been the best mother to you.” She hangs her head, her hands holding Henry’s tightly as she takes a long breath that makes her whole body shake. “I don’t want to be like she was with you - but if this doesn’t work, I want you to stay with me, if that’s okay with you.”

Henry hadn’t thought about the idea that James might not wake up. He looks away, staring hard at the wardrobe in the corner of Mr. Gold’s office and wonders if it leads to Narnia. He wonders if he could get away with saying that he’d rather wait - that he’ll stay at Granny’s if it doesn’t work out.

But he _wants_ to go home, to sleep in his own bed, to have his things around him. James is a decent father, but he’s also really bad at parenting and at least his mother.

Well, his mom tries. 

“Do you think it won’t work?” he asks, avoiding the question all together. 

She looks up at him then, and shakes her head. “Your grandparents are very good at … overcoming obstacles. Better than most, I would say.” 

He grins and she grins back.

“I’ll stay with you,” he promises, because it seems like the right thing to do. He maybe isn’t ready for it, for any of it - and she probably isn’t either. The circumstances are such that he has to say yes.

“Okay,” she says, and stands up. “Do you want me to tell you what I’m doing - as I’m doing it?” She gestures towards the chemistry set and Henry shrugs. He doesn’t want to know how to do magic because he’s seen how scary it can be. He doesn’t think that Emma would like him very much if he was scary, and he knows that Grace is going through he same thing with her father (even if Jefferson is totally evil and horrible for trying to get Henry killed).

He shakes his head. “Magic is … cool,” he says, biting at his lip and wincing as his teeth catch a small flap of skin and it starts to bleed. The weather’s getting colder again and he’s got chapped lips. “But I don’t really think that I want to know how to do it.”

“That’s a shame, laddie,” comes Mr. Gold’s voice from the doorway. He’s leaning on his cane, a mug of something-or-other in his hand. Belle is right behind him, holding two more cups - one of which she crosses into the room and passes to Regina. “You’d probably be good at it.”

Henry shakes his head violently as his mother stares hard at the mug in her hands and then glances up and gives Belle a weak smile. “Thank you,” she says.

“Don’t worry about it,” Belle replies before making a hasty retreat. Henry knows that she spent some time locked up in the hospital - James was angry about it when he found out about it - but the more he sees the way that his mother is with Belle, the more he wonders if there’s more to the story than that.

“I’d rather Henry never need to know this craft,” his mother says to Mr. Gold as he crosses into the room and settles into a chair behind his desk. His leg is sticking out an an odd angle as he sits and his pant leg’s ridden up just enough for Henry to see an angry red mark on his leg - a twisted knot of scars and pain.

He wonders how Mr. Gold got it.

“It’s the boy’s choice,” Mr. Gold agrees.

-

James won’t wake up.

James won’t wake up and Henry’s crying like he hasn’t cried in years. He’s got his arms wrapped around his mother’s waist and he’s buried his head in her fuzzy sweater as James’ face twitches but does not stir. 

“Why hasn’t he woken up?” Henry demands to know, looking from Mr. Gold to his mother and back again. Their faces are as alarmed as his is - as though they cannot believe what was to be a fool-proof plan has gone so wrong. He’s so mad that they didn’t figure out whatever happened to James. “Why!”

He wants to storm off but he’s got nowhere to go. Everyone who matters to him right now is in this room. 

His mother and Mr. Gold share a long look and then Mr. Gold steps forward and bends to pick up James’ hand. “Henry, these things take time,” he explains.

“Let me go back there and find out what happened!” Henry says, tugging on his mother’s sweater as her face seems to pale in the dim light of Mr. Gold’s shop. “I know that I can do it, I can get James to tell us what we need to know and we’ll figure it out!”

She just holds him tighter and says nothing. 

He wants to go back, he wants to be the hero so badly. James needs his help - and Henry can help him. It seems good and right, he can do this, he knows he can. 

Her fingers tangle in his hair, smoothing it flat and combing it straight. “What’re the chances that he just didn’t meet Snow?” she asks Mr. Gold.

He shakes his head. “A love like there’s there should have been enough,” he sets James’ hand down and turns to Henry. “Let’s give them the night before we try anything foolish or panic.”

Henry resolves to go back there when he falls asleep, but lets himself be lead away from James’ sleeping body. He stops for a moment to spread the blanket that his mother had brought for him - the baby blanket that she’d made him when he was still impossibly small and young - over James. It will keep him safe and protected until they can come back.

“Will he be okay here?” Henry asks - because Mr. Gold, after all, is also a bad guy.

“I give you my word he will be safe,” Mr. Gold says solemnly, his hand over his heart. Henry almost trusts him. Almost being the key word there, because Mr. Gold is sort of evil all the time and he loves his word games.

Still, somehow, that is enough for Henry.

“I’ll make you mac and cheese,” his mother promises as they leave, and Henry’s stomach growls.

He is… really rather okay with her making him dinner.

“And in the morning you’ll figure out how to wake him up if he’s not already awake?” Henry demands.

She pauses, her back stiff and rigid. He can almost feel her preparing to lie and he closes his eyes, screwing them up and desperately trying to ignore the fact that she’s about to lie to him.

“Henry,” she says fiercely. “If he does not wake up I will do everything in my power to get Snow White back here to do it for him.”

It is a good promise; one that Henry knows will come out alright in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay with this - I had a transition at work and was in training for a week. Plus with the holidays I really haven't had as much time to write as I usually do. I should have this fic wrapped up in two parts after this one. Queen of Hearts required more than one installment, I think.


	8. Chapter 8

His mom is scared, which is a strange thing that Henry's not used to experiencing. His mom isn't scared of anything, and when Mr. Gold pulls her aside and they speak in short and terse tones, Henry knows that nothing good can come of it. He knows better than to trust Mr. Gold, but he's helping and is being kind.

Henry thinks that he might be afraid as well. 

He pulls out his book and turns the pages backwards, looking for stories about his grandmother - the one who's evil. There are a few here and there, but nothing that will tell him why Mr. Gold is so scared of her as well. She's just one woman, skilled with magic, but everything the book indicates is that his mom is better.

Why is she so scared?

The question rattles around in Henry's head as he turns the pages of the book to the end to check and see if there have been any new pages added. He sometimes marvels that the fact that there was a point in his life where he did not believe in magic.

Magic is real and alive and in _everything_ about this book. He wants to go to the world contained within the book’s pages, to see where Snow and James grew up. There are stables there that his mother can go to - with horses that she'll actually like. 

And maybe then Emma will finally understand this world.

James' face twitches and Henry leans forward, but there's no change. He wonders what they've done wrong - what they've forgotten. 

He turns back to a story that he knows James will appreciate and begins to read. The story comes easily to his lips now - it is the truth and he wants to make sure he knows them well. 

"And the prince..." he reads out, but then glances up as his mother comes back into the room and leans down to check on James once more. He watches as she takes his pulse and sets his hand down far more gently than he'd've ever expected of her.

"Henry," she says. She comes to kneel in front of him, resting her hands on the edges of the book and looking up at him. She meets his eyes and they're clearer than they've been in days. "Mr. Gold and I need to go and make preparations for Emma and Snow's return."

His mother's eyes are wide, full of something that Henry cannot place. It seems almost like fear, like she's lying to him like she's always done, but now she feels guilty about it. Maybe she does feel guilty, maybe there is more to this than what he's seeing. Mr. Gold still has magic that works and works well here - but his mother's is different. It is somehow faulty and slow to work at times.

Everything that he's come to understand says that his mom's magic works better when Emma is near. She won't tell him why, but Henry thinks of the picture of the two of them together that's hidden behind another on his mother's bedside table and thinks that he understands.

"Do you need my help?" He asks, fingers curling around the edge of the book and almost anxious to be there for his mother. He knows that she's scared - but Henry knows. He knows that Emma and Snow will come back because that's how these stories work. Good _always_ wins.

She shakes her head no and reaches up to cup his cheek. "I need you to do something more important," she explains, glancing over at James' sleeping face. "Stay here and watch him?"

"But..." Henry protests.

Her expression turns sour and hard so quickly that Henry remembers why he's sometimes afraid of her. Why he'll always do what she says when she's like this. He knows when she's just being contrary, or when she's denying him things because she knows he wants them. 

It was like that with Emma, but this is the protective sort of sour and hardness that makes Henry shift a little in his seat and nod his head slowly. "I get it," he says with a slow smile. "You believe me when I say that he found her."

His mother stands and rests her hands on her hips for a moment before finally announcing, "Well, if anyone's going to find each other, it's them."

Henry giggles, and it sounds strange. Everyone's been so serious recently. So hard and so concentrated and calculated. No one's laughing any more.

"You really have changed your tune on them," He says. His grin hurts his cheeks and he's a little embarrassed by it.

"Or I'm very adept at stating the obvious," His mother replies with a set of raised eyebrows that Henry knows means she's joking. 

*

Leroy comes in first, the bell on the Mr. Gold's door ringing steadily and angrily as wood and window panes rattle open and then shut again. Ruby follows hot on his heels and they both stand for a moment, staring down at James in shock and then realization.

"What did they do to him?!" Leroy demands, reaching forward for the front of Henry's shirt. Ruby grabs his hand with a snarl that makes the hair on the back of Henry's neck stand on end. She throws his hand down to the side and Henry takes a deep breath.

"It was the only way to tell them how to beat Cora and find a way back!" Henry says loudly, raising his chin defiantly. "He asked - he wouldn't let me do it again."

"And Regina did this?" Ruby stared down at James' sleeping face, her expression full of sadness once again. "Because he asked her to?"

Henry nodded. "She went with Mr. Gold to the place where he thinks that they'll come out."

Leroy straightens at this and squats down so that he's level with Henry. "Kid, they've taken all the crystals that were growing in the mines."

"All of them?" Henry asks, his mind racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out what on earth they could be using those crystals for. No matter what he thinks, he knows that it can't be good - which means that his mother lied to him. But why? 

"Yeah, kid." Leroy stands and shoves his hands sullenly in his pockets. "All of 'em."

Even if his mother did lie to him, there has to be a reason. She's been so afraid, so terrified of what might happen that he can't help but think of her as a betrayer. Gold has to be behind this, Henry knows. His mother was doing so good - she was changing. 

"We have to stop them," he says, and sets his book down on the chair. He doesn't notice the story that's writing as he speaks, of the fight between the evil witch and the white knight. That will come later, when they've gathered together once again.

*

Henry's pretty sure that he's got it figured out by the time he trips and stumbles his way up the path that leads through the woods above the town. This isn't about Snow, or even Emma. But rather about the possibility of who else might come through the portal back to their world. He knows that Cora is not a good person and that she's largely responsible for why his mother is how she is - but he's got no idea why Mr. Gold is afraid of her too. He can't find any stories about her in the book, only in the tale of the Stable Boy is she there.

They're up by the old wishing well that Snow once told him about and his mother never allowed him to come and check out.

He runs up the hill shouting for them to stop and Mr. Gold makes no move to stop him. Henry barrels almost straight into his mother and grabs her by her jacket. "What did you do?" he asks, though he already knows. 

"Henry..." she begins. Her eyes are wide and she looks like she's about to cry. She lets herself sink to unsteady knees and rests her hands on his shoulders. "Henry I can't take the risk."

But what about Emma? What about Snow? Didn't she love them at all? Henry doesn’t understand. He doesn’t think he wants to understand. His mother is making a choice that is in defiance to everything he knows. "Why don't you believe me - they'll come back!"

She almost laughs at him then, her eyes wide and scary-looking. "Don't you think I know that?" She hangs her head and the well before them spits green sparks that make Henry almost back up in fear. He's seen magic now - he knows what it can do and how it works - but it's never been like this. "Henry if my mother comes through there she will destroy everything I love," her eyes meet his then, and she adds - although she does not need to, "You."

He opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. "But Emma will come out, I know she will! Good _always_ wins, Mom!" He reaches out and grabs her hand. "Please mom, please - trust me."

There are a million and one emotions that cross his mother's face then. She's looked like this a few times - like when Henry's seen her try and process who and what Emma is. When Henry's nearly walked in on them with their bodies way too close for mortal enemies and redness on their cheeks. He's ten, not stupid. His mother fees something for Emma, and she definitely loves him. Maybe Doctor Hopper was right and all she needed was to realize that there was love in her life. He'll have to remember to talk to James about continuing to go see Doctor Hopper.

"Henry... I can't..." Her fingers grasp his shoulders more tightly and she's almost shaking him. Her entire body is pulsating with the power of whatever it is that's behind him, and she shoves him aside and lunges for the well. Her entire body seems to curl around the magical energy that's pulsating at the mouth of the well and she stares at it for one long moment before driving her hands into it.

"No, you fool!" Gold shouts. His voice is high-pitched and squeaky, almost unrecognizable. Henry turns to stare at him, but his head whips about around when suddenly all the sound stops and the only thing he can hear is silence. His mom collapses down by the side of the well and Henry runs forward and helps her to her feet.

He glances up at her, a small smile on his face. "What changed your mind?" he asked.

"You," she whispered, her hand pressing against her heart. 

Mr. Gold is gone, vanished into the forest as Henry squeezes his mother's hand.

There's a clatter behind them, the sound of boots scrambling desperately against time-smoothed stone and Henry turns, his mother still clutching his hand, to see the top of a very blond head of hair slowly pull itself from the well.

"Emma!" he shouts, and drops his mom's hand. He runs, excited, elated to think that she's back and doesn't think of his mother. Emma is back, he was right! Snow's there too and finally everything can go back to normal. 

Emma stares at him for a long moment, before scooping him up into a hug. "Henry," she whispers, and hugs him close.

Thing is, and Henry's far too polite to say it, Emma smells, well, bad. He reasons that this is caused by the fact that she's been in the other world for god-knows how long. He's not even sure if it's like Narnia and time passes differently there or not. He pulls away as he watches Snow smile serenely down at him, before her eyes snap up to stare at his mother.

"She saved you," he said quietly, kicking at the ground.

There's a weird expression that comes over Snow's face then. It's one that henry has never seen before, and one he really isn't sure how to place what its saying. There's got to be a thank you in there somewhere, but there's an undercut of sympathy that there's still not sure his mother deserves.

He's working towards that goal.

"Thank you," Snow says, and his mother merely nods, her hand still pressed hard against her chest. 

There's a red blur and Snow is tackled by Ruby, who's apparently figured out that he sent them totally in the wrong direction looking for Mr. Gold and his mom, and has come to find Snow. It's weird how happy she is to see her best friend, but Henry's never really had one of those, so he doesn’t know. 

Ruby leads Snow away a minute later and it's just the three of them, standing in a clearing by a well.

Henry clings to Emma's hand but drags her down to where his mom is. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you," he says to his mother, whose eyes soften when he says it. "You're really on the right side now."

Emma bites her lip above him and ruffles his hair but says nothing. Henry watches them as they look at each other, and he feels the urge to walk away and leave them alone.

"Your mom's a real piece of work," is all Emma says, before offering her other hand to his mom and turning back in the direction of town. 

His mother reaches out and tentatively takes the hand that's offered to her. "Welcome back, Ms. Swan," she says, and Henry smiles up at her.

Maybe all's quiet on the home front for now. Maybe things can go back to normal.

As Henry walks away from the well, leading his mother and Emma back towards civilization and where Snow is most undoubtedly waking James from his enchanted slumber, he thinks that there's no way this story could be over. It's really only just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For now, I think this will be the end of Homefront. I wanted it to follow the episodes were Henry and Emma were not together, and really focus on him as the show's sort of left him by the wayside. Now that I've done that - the fic's probably over. When the new episodes air, I might write more. We'll see.


End file.
